Freight terms glossary: shipping terminology in plain English

These terms have a page of their own:

• Bill of lading, telex release and sea waybill, commercial invoice, packing list.
• Freight forwarder and NVOCC, freight consolidation, container freight station, TEU.
• Drayage, transloading, cross docking.
• Verified gross mass, bunker adjustment factor.

• Freight forwarder: a company that arranges the whole move for you, booking space with carriers, handling the paperwork and often the customs broker.
• Carrier: the company that moves the goods: a shipping line, an airline, a trucking company. On Ebbrate, “carrier” means the forwarder or carrier that bids.
• Door to door, port to port: how much of the journey a price covers. Door to door runs from the supplier to your warehouse; port to port covers the sea leg only.
• Transit time: the days from departure to arrival on the main leg, not counting customs or final delivery unless the quote says so.
• ETD and ETA: estimated time of departure and of arrival.
• Cut-off: the last moment cargo or documents are accepted for a sailing.
• Surcharges: charges added to the base freight. Common ones are BAF (fuel), PSS (peak season) and GRI (a general rate increase announced by the line).
• THC (terminal handling charge): what the terminal charges to handle a container, at origin and again at destination.
• Free time: the days a container may stay at the terminal, or with you, before charges start.
• Demurrage and detention: charges for keeping a container too long. Demurrage is for terminal space, detention for the container itself once it has left the terminal.

• FCL (full container load): you book a whole container for your goods.
• LCL (less than container load): your goods share a container with other shippers and you pay for the space used.
• TEU: twenty-foot equivalent unit, the standard measure of container capacity. A 40 ft container is two TEU.
• 20 ft, 40 ft, 40 ft high cube: the common dry containers. Inside sizes are in container dimensions.
• CBM: cubic metre, the unit LCL and much of freight is priced in. Work it out with the CBM calculator.
• Chargeable weight: for air and express freight, the greater of the actual weight and the volume converted to weight, so light, bulky boxes pay for their size.
• Pallet: the platform cargo is stacked on. US pallets are 48 × 40 inches; EURO pallets are 1200 × 800 mm.
• VGM (verified gross mass): the weighed mass of a packed container, which the shipper must give the line before it is loaded.
• CFS (container freight station): the warehouse where LCL cargo is put into and taken out of shared containers.
• Consolidation: putting several shippers’ goods into one container; the forwarder doing it is the consolidator.

• Commercial invoice: the supplier’s invoice for the goods, with value, currency and description. Customs uses it to set duty.
• Packing list: what is in each carton or pallet, with weights and sizes.
• Bill of lading (B/L): the carrier’s receipt for the goods and the contract of carriage for a sea shipment. A master bill is issued by the shipping line, a house bill by the forwarder.
• Telex release and sea waybill: ways to release the goods at destination without the original paper bill of lading.
• Air waybill (AWB): the air freight equivalent of a bill of lading. It is not a document of title.
• Certificate of origin: a document stating where the goods were made, needed for some duty rates and trade programmes.
• Arrival notice: the carrier’s message that the goods are arriving, with charges due before release.

• Importer of record (IOR): the party that makes the customs entry and answers for it. See importer of record.
• Customs broker: a licensed company that files entries for importers.
• Customs bond: the guarantee CBP holds that duties will be paid. See customs bond.
• ISF (Importer Security Filing, “10+2”): data filed before an ocean container is loaded abroad. See ISF filing.
• HTS code: the 10-digit classification in the Harmonized Tariff Schedule of the United States that sets the duty rate. The first six digits are the international HS code.
• Formal entry and informal entry: formal entries, generally goods worth more than $2,500, need a bond and a full entry; lower-value goods can often use an informal one.
• Entry summary (CBP Form 7501): the document that declares the goods, their value and classification, and the duty owed.
• MPF and HMF: the Merchandise Processing Fee and, for goods arriving by sea, the Harbor Maintenance Fee, charged on top of duty.
• Duty paid, DDP: a price that includes import duty and taxes. Price one with the DDP calculator.
• Exam, hold: CBP or another agency stops the goods for inspection; charges for the exam and storage fall on the importer.

Incoterms are the ICC’s rules for who does what in an international sale. The ones an importer meets most:

• EXW (Ex Works): the buyer collects from the supplier and handles export.
• FCA (Free Carrier): the supplier clears export and hands the goods to the buyer’s carrier at a named place.
• FOB (Free on Board): the supplier clears export and loads the goods on board at the named port; for sea freight only.
• CIF: the supplier pays freight and insurance to the destination port, but the risk passes at loading.
• DAP and DDP: the seller delivers to the destination; under DDP it also clears import and pays the duty.

• Drayage: trucking a container between the port or rail yard and a warehouse.
• Transload: moving goods out of an ocean container into a truck, often near the port.
• FTL and LTL: a full truckload, or less than truckload, where your pallets share a truck.
• Final mile: the last leg to the delivery address.
• Fulfilment centre (FC): an Amazon warehouse. Each has a code, such as a three-letter airport code and a digit. See Amazon fulfilment centres.
• FBA shipment ID and reference ID: the numbers Amazon gives a shipment, which go on the labels and the delivery booking. See Amazon IDs.
• Delivery appointment: a booked slot to deliver to a warehouse; many fulfilment centres turn away trucks without one.
• POD (proof of delivery): the signed record that the goods were delivered.

• Reverse auction: carriers bid down on your shipment, and you choose the bid you want, not only the lowest.
• Declared value: the value of the goods you enter on the shipment. See declared value.
• Service fee: the carrier pays Ebbrate a share of the service part of its price. You pay nothing to post. See what it costs.
• Carrier score: how Ebbrate rates a carrier from its record on the platform. See carrier score.